A wealthy Nebraska father who didn’t trust banks and believed an American collapse was just around the corner, hid nearly two tons of silver and gold coins "under our beds, in the kitchen cupboards, up in the attics, in the bottom of dresser drawers, in holes in the ground," writes daughter Alison Johnson.
Alison tells her true life story in a book called "The Eleventh Hour Can’t Last Forever."
She recounts how her father hid more than $1.5 million worth of coins and how "his blind absorption in amassing wealth" created an array of family problems.
A glimpse into her father’s obsession is gleaned in listening to Alison talk to Nebraska’s 6 News.
"Along about 1958 or 1960, he would go down to Omaha or Lincoln on business and when he came home he would say, ‘Oh, I stopped in to chat with Warren Buffett and he keeps trying to get me to invest in his new company, but I tell him I’m saving silver nickels.’"
On the book’s jacket, Warren Buffett writes:
"In a sad way I enjoyed reading the account of your life and that of your father. It’s a saga relating how an obsession with money can really mess up a family."
For an intriguing preview of the book and hidden treasure, watch the embedded 6 News clip above. Alison Johnson’s 191 page book is priced at $15, and may be purchased online at The Eleventh Hour Can’t Last Forever – A Memoir by Alison Johnson.
Mr Buffett. It is informative to read that you glean wisdom from sources such as this story. I grew up poor, and I remembered reading about you when I was 15 or so, and you are what inspired me to go to college. I studied ANOVA, and from that statistical method gleaned that 75% of the time in a bull market the Dow Jones is up on Tuesdays, except on triple witching days, and in September. Never be in the market on the first day after a holiday in a sucker’s rally, and gold will never be truly wise until… Read more »